Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) lets an operator pause the agent and take over a live conversation. The customer never sees the seam: the thread keeps its history, the human replies in-line, and the agent resumes with full context when the human releases it.
In this section
- Configure the triggers that raise a conversation for human attention.
- Initiate a takeover from any open conversation or from an escalation alert.
- Send messages as the agent or as a named human, and add internal notes.
- Release the thread with optional training notes attached for the next training cycle.
What's inside
- 01
Trigger
A conversation is raised by an Escalation keyword, a low confidence score, an Auditor verdict, an explicit customer request for a human, or a manual pick-up from the queue.
- 02
Notify
Notifications reach operators through the Copilot inbox badge, email, and any webhook or Teams/Slack destination configured on the Notifications Skill.
- 03
Take over
The agent is paused for that thread only. Other conversations on the same agent continue running normally.
- 04
Release
Control returns to the agent. The human exchange stays in the thread context, so the agent does not repeat questions the operator already answered.
At a glance
| Setting | What it controls | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Escalation keywords | Words or phrases that immediately flag a thread for a human. | Set on the Escalation Skill |
| Confidence threshold | Raises a thread when the agent's answer confidence falls below the limit. | Tune against real transcripts |
| Auditor handoff | Routes a conversation to a human when the Auditor Skill detects PII, abuse, or a policy breach. | Regulated workflows |
| Business hours | Whether escalations route to live operators or to an away flow. | Pairs with Pre-Chat & Availability |
| Notification targets | Who is alerted, on which channel, and how quickly it repeats. | Configured on the Notifications Skill |
| Auto-release timeout | Returns an idle human-owned thread to the agent after a set period. | Preventing abandoned takeovers |
Tip
Every takeover is a training signal. Add a note when you release the thread so the gap you just covered becomes an instruction or a document instead of a repeat escalation.